by Gina Scarpa

 

As we kick off the start of the sixth leg of The Amazing Race, it's time for teams to leave the brutal heat and crowded streets of Bangladesh and travel 3700 miles to Istanbul, Turkey. With all teams heading out on the same flight, it will be an even playing field once they touch down. First, they need to stop at a travel agency to make their arrangements and while there, the twins notice that the rockers left their money out. Instead of handing it back to them, they snatch it up and give some to Lexi and Trey, and they all seem to delight in it, with the exception of Trey. You'd expect that he might stand up and say, "Hey, this isn't right. Give it back to them immediately," but he just stays quiet and goes along with the girls.

 

Now, I can't call myself a huge fan of the twins. Their incessant talking and need to call everyone around them stupid, and many other names, has really rubbed me the wrong way. But this really takes the cake! I'll be expecting a nice sized penalty for these two later. After all, the rules state you can't tamper with another team's items during a challenge. Surely, you can't take their money!

 

Poor Abba blames himself for the lost money, assuming he dropped it in the cab on the way to the agency. In order to get to the airport, they're forced to beg in the streets but if you saw the people begging around them, you wouldn't want to do it just as much as they didn't. Luckily, they found some generous locals who were happy to help them and not only did they make it to the plane, but they were able to get off the plane and into a taxi in first once in Turkey.

 

Teams arrive at one ferry terminal and take a boat to another. That doesn't sound that cool, except that Turkey happens to fall right in between Europe and Asia so, during the boat ride, they actually crossed the continental line! From there, it's off to the Misir Carsisi Spice Bazaar, and teams can travel by taxi or subway. When traffic is heavy, the subway is the way to travel but it's early in the morning, and there are not many cars on the roads. Still, the Chippendales and the monster truckers opt for mass transit, ending up at the bottom of the pack. Jaymes and James end up hopping off the subway to catch a taxi but by then, they already had lost a lot of ground.

 

At the spice bazaar, Josh and Brent find their Speed Bump. The goat farmers have to find a marked ice cream vendor, participate in the little show that takes place before they are served, and then eat their cone in its entirety before continuing. In their rush, they first went to an unmarked cart, and ended up having to go through the entire process twice. I can only imagine the brain freeze they were feeling!

 

Next up is the Detour, with the choices being Simit and Scrub It. In Simit, teams must transport Turkish bagels known as simit to three different locations. That doesn't sound that hard, except the bagels have to be balanced on their head and they must navigate through crowded streets to get there. In Scrub It, teams head to a bath house for a cleansing, and that ends up being the more appealing of the choices to many teams. Only the farmers and the truckers choose to deliver bagels.

 

Now squeaky clean, Lexi and Trey are the first to finish the Detour and head out for Kapali Carsi to search for a marked fountain, where a Road Block awaits. One team member must serve forty glasses of sherbet (or as many people call it on the race, sherbert) and earn forty lira in order to continue. Lexi's cheerleader past ends up working to her advantage because her loud and bubbly personality goes over well with many customers in the bazaar. Ryan gets off to a rough start but finds a man willing to help and act as his broker. When the dancers finally arrive, James struggles a bit in the beginning, then turns on the charm to win the Turkish ladies over.

 

On the way to the pit stop, located at the ship Savarona, there is horrible traffic so Josh and Brent jump out of their taxi to direct traffic. Anything to try to keep them in the race! Teams end up arriving in the following order:

 

1. Lexi and Trey (win a trip to Australia)
2. Abbie and Ryan
3. James and Abba
4. Natalie and Nadiya
5. Jaymes and James
6. Josh and Brent
7. Rob and Kelley (eliminated)

 

Wait, no penalty for Natalie and Nadiya?! You have to wonder what James and Abba think now that they've seen what really happened in Turkey.

 

The Amazing Race airs Sundays at 8/7c on CBS.

 

(Image courtesy of CBS)

 

Follow Gina @ginascarpa